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Semi Minolta P
}} The Semi Minolta P, released in 1951, is the last folding camera made by Chiyoda (the predecessor of Minolta). This model has less advanced features than the previous Semi Minolta III, and it has a completely different body, more rounded and with the finder and controls on the opposite side, so that the body release is actioned by the right hand. The Semi Minolta P is easily recognized by its tubular finder: it was sold at a time when the folding finders were considered old-fashioned. This finder has two indexes for parallax correction. When the camera is held by the photographer to take portrait pictures, the advance knob is on the left and the back is hinged to the right. Film advance lacks the automatic stop device of the Semi Minolta III, and it is controlled by a red window at the top of the back, protected by a vertically sliding cover. There is a thick accessory shoe at the right of the viewfinder, with the serial number engraved behind. The camera is usually embossed Minolta in the front leather. It seems that some examples lack this marking For example the one pictured in Francesch, p.84. , but maybe their covering is not original. The Semi Minolta P is equipped with a Promar SII 75/3.5 three element Three elements: Supuringu kamera de ikō, p.77. lens, said to be made by Asahi Kōgaku According to this page of the Manual Minolta website. . The shutter is a Konan-Flicker, giving B, 2–200 speeds and synchronized, said to be made by Chiyoda itself According to this page of the Manual Minolta website. . A total of about 70,000 examples were produced Supuringu kamera de ikō, p.77. , in two main variants. The early variant, advertised in 1951 and early 1952 , p.368. , has a flatter folding bed According to , p.368. , a standing leg that folds back, and there is nothing at the right of the top plate. The shutter plate is black and the synch connector is the same specific type found on most IIIB and IIIC. An advertisement for this model appears in the February 1951 issue of Asahi Camera Reproduced in , p.194. and it is called Semi Minolta P (セミミノルタP型). The late variant, advertised from 1952 to 1955 , p.368. under the name Minolta Semi P (ミノルタ・セミP型), has a more rounded folding bed According to , p.368. , with a standing leg retracting laterally into it. It also has a small flange added to the right of the top plate, to support the film spool, absent on the early variant, as well as an ASA bayonet synch connector. The shutter plate is black with white markings and later white with black markings. One example, probably transitional, has been observed In an online auction. with the new leg but without the flange and with the old type of synch connector. Another example, perhaps a modified one, has been observed In an online auction. with the white shutter plate and a PC synch connector. The price was in 1952, lowered to or ¥10,950 in 1954 depending on the source. 1952: Lewis, p.78. — 1954: ¥11,800 in Lewis, p.85; ¥10,950 in , p.368. An advertisement dated September 1952 Published in , reproduced in , p.194. , placed by the distributor Asanuma Shōkai, shows the late variant with a black shutter plate, while later advertisements dated August 1954 Advertisement published in Camera Mainichi, reproduced in , p.195. and November 1955 Advertisement published in , reproduced in , p.194. show a white shutter plate. In the latter advertisement, the camera is offered together with an accessory rangefinder, for . During the year 1954, Chiyoda Kōgaku organized a succession of photo contests open to the users of the Semi Minolta P, with a ¥3,000 first prize. Each of these contests was taking place in a different region of Japan, for example the second one was open to the photographers living in Kyūshū and the fifth one to the inhabitants of the Chūbu region. Second contest: see this advertisement reproduced in the Shashin-Bako website. Fifth contest: advertisement reproduced in , p.924. Notes Bibliography * Items 919–20. (See also the advertisement for item 924.) * * * Pp.78 and 85. * P.673. * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.10. * Pp.36–7. * Items 1357–8. * Tanimura Yoshihiko (谷村吉彦). "Supuringu kamera " (スプリングカメラ<セミミノルタ>, "'Semi Minolta' self-erecting camera"). Kamera Rebyū Bessatsu: Kurashikku Kamera Senka / All about Historical Cameras, no.12, October 1988 (special issue on Minolta camera no subete Minolta history), pp.19–24. Links General links In English: * Semi Minolta P in Christopher's camera page * Semi Minolta P in medfmt * Semi Minolta P in the 70th anniversary Minolta poster, reproduced at Photoclub Alpha In Japanese: * Semi Minolta P in the Konica Minolta official history site * Semi Minolta P at Puppy's Island * Semi Minolta P at doraDD's clacamera blog * Semi Minolta P in the Map Camera Museum Original documents In Japanese: * Advertisement for the Minolta range published in 1954, reproduced in a page of Japanese postwar advertisements in the Shashin-Bako website Minolta P, Semi Category: Minolta Category: S Minolta P, Semi